Re:
Best Trick You Learned From An Old Schooler

One i use frequently when doing a remodel. WHen pulling the casing around doors and windows, use a old drywall knife butted against casing ontop of the drywall, 8" or so to pry against, It will help disperse the pressure and wont mar up the drywall.

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Re:
Best Trick You Learned From An Old Schooler

when putting up soffit i use to cut one piece the length needed then put it on top of the full lenght scribe the length, cut it, mark cut repeat,

then an elder showed me to simply cut the first length put it on the length mark it, slip the pattern forward 1/8" scribe, repeat, so instead of spending 15 minutes cutting 10 pieces of soffit it only takes 3 minutes.

mind you ive switched from cutting it with snips to a slider with the blade backwards. we almost always use hidden perforated soffit which is alot harder to cut than the stuff which is a borderline strainer

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putting down subfloor with glue and screws, well i saw dr. smith and the robot too , i had a martian burger and a sonic shake

The Following User Says Thank You to woodworkbykirk For This Useful Post:

Re:
Best Trick You Learned From An Old Schooler

I learned to do that with a red-hot paper clip, from a doctor when I was a kid. He had a "drill" designed just for that, but it was dull.

I was very pleased when he gave up on that and scorched me instead.

i had to use the hot paper clip a few weeks ago. but not from me smashing my finger but because it got smashed between the coil gun i had in my had and the one that fell out of the cabinet in the dark, loading my truck up one morning. that really hurt. but i never lost the nail.

Location: St. Petersburg, FL Minds of moderate caliber ordinarily condemn everything which is beyond their range.

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Re:
Best Trick You Learned From An Old Schooler

Quote:

Originally Posted by galla35

i still dont understand the carpenters knot thing

Say you want to pull a string tight from where it is fastened 50' away to a board in front of you.

The first thing you do is drive a 6d or 8d nail in the board at an angle slanting away from the starting location of the string.

Secondly, you double over the string you have in your hand, making a simple loop.

Third, still holding the string in the hand closest to the start 50' away, you take your index finger of the other hand and stick it through the loop.

You twirl your index finger around about a half dozen times, twisting the base of the loop till it looks sort of like a hangman's noose.

Now you slip that twisted loop off your finger onto the nail.

Next, with one hand, you pull the long 50' line tight... toward the nail... while at the same time you pull the loose end of the sting coming from the loop in the opposite direction... TOWARD the start and away from the nail........ Both hands are moving in opposite directions at the same time, taking up all the slack and tightening the long line.

When the long line is as tight as you need it, and your other hand has pulled all the slack out of the twisted loop, you QUICKLY jerk the hand holding the loose end back right past the side of the nail.

This causes all the twists to slip over each other and bundle up against the slanted nail, locking the loop in place.

This holds just fine.

When you want it loose, you grasp the slack end, and snap it back toward the tightened part of the line. The loops un-bundle, and as you let the line slip through your hand, the tension releases, and you can lift the loop right off the nail.

The string has now returned to normal.

Only 3 things to remember....

The nail has to be slanted with the head angling away from the fastened end of the string. 15 - 20 degrees is OK.

One hand has to be taking up the slack through the loop at the very same time, and in coordination with the other hand pulling the long part of the string tight from where it is fastened way down there. (kind of like tightening your necktie on your neck... one hand pulls up on the knot while the other hand pulls down on the small part of the tie) Think of your neck as being the nail in the board.

The SNAP back has to be QUICK and FIRM... and you MUST snap back PAST the nail, keeping the line tight in your hand. This movement creates the LOCK.

*************************

I tried my best to find a video of this knot. But I guess because it is such a simple, simple, simple thing to do in a couple of seconds, no one has bothered to make a video of it.

Nothing to it at all. Twist the loop, and pull then snap.

Done, walk away.

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Bill Everett - St. Petersburg, FL

Re:
Best Trick You Learned From An Old Schooler

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willie T

Big one if you are recklessly working on a plywood roof with no teather......................

Sharpen the claws of your ripping hammer. This "Safety Brake System" has saved the life of almost everyone I know at one time or another (including me). And it also comes in handy to reach down and snag the side of a heavy beam.

Sure, ya gotta repair the hole in the plywood.... but you're alive!

Yep this works!!!!!! Had to use it once. Straight claw hammers are the best

Also never trust a nail put in a roof jack by someone else, it is your life on it!!!!!! Learnt that when had to do the above as the board let go under me.

When wanting to snap a chalk line on an angle the hook will not stay in place. Make a small knife cut on the edge and put the string in it.

Location: St. Petersburg, FL Minds of moderate caliber ordinarily condemn everything which is beyond their range.

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Re:
Best Trick You Learned From An Old Schooler

Don't have a nail set handy? Don't try to set that nail with the point of a bigger nail; you'll slip off nine times out of ten.

Instead, solidly grip a headed nail by the shaft, placing the edge of the head over your flush finish nail head, and tap on the other side of the big nail head. The hole will be kind of rectangular, so align it with the grain if you can, and it will be much less noticeable.

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"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Bill Everett - St. Petersburg, FL

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